The following words are from the Reverend Otis Moss, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois concerning President Obama’s recent public endorsement of Gay Marriage.

My Brother:

Tell your brethren who are part of your ministerial coalition to “live their faith and not legislate their faith” for the Constitution is designed to protect the rights of all. We must learn to be more than a one-issue community and seek the beloved community where we may not all agree, but we all recognize the fingerprint of the Divine upon all of humanity.

There is no doubt people who are same-gender-loving occupy prominent places in the body of Christ. For the clergy to hide from true dialogue with quick dismissive claims devised from poor biblical scholarship is as sinful as unthoughtful acceptance of a theological position. When we make biblical claims without sound interpretation we run the risk of adopting a doctrinal position of deep conviction but devoid of love. Deep faith may resonate in our position, but it is the ethic of love that forces us to prayerfully reexamine our position.

The question I believe we should pose to our congregations is, “Should all Americans have the same civil rights?” This is a radically different question than the one you raised with the ministers, “Does the church have the right to perform or not perform certain religious rites.”

There is difference between rights and rites. We should never misconstrue rights designed to protect diverse individuals in a pluralistic society versus religious rites designed by faith communities to communicate a theological or doctrinal perspective. These two questions are answered in two fundamentally different arenas. One is answered in the arena of civic debate where the Constitution is the document of authority. The other is answered in the realm of ecclesiastical councils where theology, conscience and biblical mandates are the guiding ethos. I do not believe ecclesiastical councils are equipped to shape civic legislation nor are civic representatives equipped to shape religious rituals and doctrine.

The institution of marriage is not under attack as a result of the President’s words. Marriage was under attack years ago by men who viewed women as property and children as trophies of sexual prowess. Marriage is under attack by low wages, high incarceration, unfair tax policy, unemployment, and lack of education. Marriage is under attack by clergy who proclaim monogamy yet think nothing of stepping outside the bonds of marriage to have multiple affairs with “preaching groupies.” Same-gender couples did not cause the high divorce rate, but our adolescent views of relationships and our inability as a community to come to grips with the ethic of love and commitment did. We still confuse sex with love and romance with commitment.

My father, who is a veteran of the civil rights movement and retired pastor, eloquently stated the critical nature of this election when speaking to ministers this past week who claim they will pull support from the President as a result of his position. He stated, “Our Ancestors prayed for 389 years to place a person of color in the White House. They led over 200 slave revolts, fought in 11 wars, one being a civil war where over 600,000 people died. Our mothers fought and were killed for women’s suffrage, our grandparents were lynched for the civil rights bill of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965…my father never had the opportunity to vote and I believe it is my sacred duty to pull the lever for every member of my family who was denied the right to vote. I will not allow narrow-minded ministers or regressive politicians the satisfaction of keeping me from my sacred right to vote to shape the future for my grandchildren.”

“The institution of marriage is not under attack as a result of the President’s words.”

Gay and lesbian citizens did not cause the economic crash, foreclosures, and attack upon health care. Poor under funded schools were not created because people desire equal protection under the law. We have much work to do as a community, and to claim the President of the United States must hold your theological position is absurd. He is President of the United States of America not the President of the Baptist convention or Bishop of the Sanctified or Holiness Church. He is called to protect the rights of Jew and Gentile, male and female, young and old, Gay and straight, black and white, Atheist and Agnostic. It should be noted the President offered no legislation, or executive order, or present an argument before the Supreme Court. He simply stated his personal conviction.

If we dare steal away from the noise of this debate, we will realize as a church we are called to “Do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with God.” Gay people have never been the enemy; and when we use rhetoric to suggest they are the source of our problems we lie on God and cause tears to flow from the eyes of Christ.

I am not asking you to change your position, but I am stating we must stay in dialogue and not allow our own personal emotional prejudices or doctrines to prevent us from seeing the possibilities of a beloved community.

November is fast approaching, and the spirits of Ella Baker, Septima Clarke, Fannie Lou Hammer, Rosa Parks, A. Phillip Randolph, James Orange, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther, King Jr. stand in the balcony of heaven raising the question, “Will you do justice, live mercy and walk humbly with our God?”

Emmitt Till and the four little girls who were assassinated in Alabama during worship did not die for a Sunday sermonic sound bite to show disdain for one group of God’s people. They were killed by an evil act enacted by men who believed in doctrine over love. We serve in ministry this day because of a man who believed in love over doctrine and died on a hill called Calvary in a dusty Palestinian community 2,000 years ago. Do not let the rhetoric of this debate keep you from the polls, my friend.

p.s the letter from pastor moss is awesome! what a beautiful statement of the truth. ‘do justice,live mercy, and walk humbly with god’. truly words to live by. and exactly the quality of discourse i find here again and again. thank you chips.

It’s a stunning letter. Profound. Deeply felt. Beautifully written. If there were more Rev. Mosses shepherding parishes around this country, we would be in a far better place as a people. He went to the heart of of it all–put love of your fellow man above narrow doctrinal interpretations of the bible. Look at the whole, understand the real enemy and heal yourself of narrow mindedness and hate. What a powerful piece. I hope it influences a lot of people.

Indeed, amk! Rev. Amos is an example of serious religious people whose faith and ethics go beyond dogma. The tragedy of our 21st century is that the dominant religious voices are those that promote hate. Rev. Amos’ words, though intended for the AA community, should be embraced by all religious believers of any faith.

i do so appreciate the pastor’s letter, but would suggest one simple but powerful addition: where it says ‘my brother’, he could write ‘and my sister’. the clergy has been predominately male for so long, we forget that women do this work wonderfully, too. women deserve inclusion, recognition, and respect–which will go a long way toward the justice the pastor holds dear. that’s half the world, right there.

I thought the same thing too and was about to write a similar complaint about the “my brother ” part.

Except if you read the rest of the letter, it is implied that Rev Mos was responding to a specific religious leader’s earlier letter and that is WHY he is responding to” that brother” = and in my words her chose to copy it to others (as like in cc)

By and large it’s the clergy brothers who have a concern about the President’s position/statement. In many denominations the women clergy are still struggling for acceptance in the black clergy brotherood.

Troubling I am sick of questions about the integrity of our elections. Every time. I don’t want to be reading about questions about why the exit polls didn’t match the reported results——again—in Nov. I don’t like who owns and runs those voting machine companies. I don’t understand why all states don’t have the same standards, same methods, same laws, same voting equipment for national elections. It’s a sloppily run system, and no one seems to ever care that there is no real confidence in the integrity of the equipment and often the results.

I could not agree more, dotster. Maybe that’s why there is low turn out and apathy. People just hear things like this and wonder, “Why bother?” It should be that we can trust the integrity of the process of voting. It is a precious right that should be treated that way. Do I call the DOJ?

The other thing about turnout that makes very little sense to me is the fact two essential DEM groups that typically don’t show up for non-Presidential elections (Blacks and youth) had a strong showing in this election – better than they did in 2010.

As dotster stated, I think a ruling should be passed that mandates paper ballots in ALL swing and “tossup” states, with video cameras present before, during and after voting, as well as during the counting of the votes. In addition both DEM and Repub counters with DOJ officials should be present during the counting of the votes. Computerized machines without paper trails can be hacked to flip votes with no evidence of tampering whatsoever. I’m very uncomfortable with that idea.

He conceded but the bigger question remains, as Tally posted, and as I have been saying as well, was this a rehearsal for November?

We have to get to the bottom of this or we might very well find ourselves hearing about “President-elect Romney” on November 7, with the MSM going on and on about “Citizens United” and “money in politics.” both of which I believe are simply red herrings and deliberate diversions away from the massive election fraud planned for swing states.

the historical record shows that from economic growth and job creation to stock market performance and just about every other indicator of the health of the U.S. capitalism, the modern U.S. economy has almost always done better under Democratic presidents. Despite GOP mythology to the contrary, America generally gained more jobs and grew faster when taxes were higher (even much higher) and income inequality lower. And while the U.S. recovery from the Bush recession remains painfully slow, most economists – including the nonpartisan CBO and some of John McCain’s own 2008 advisers – believe President Obama saved the American free-enterprise system from the abyss. As Harry Truman famously put it:

“If you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic.”

Here’s why Give ‘Em Hell Harry is still right. (Click a link below for the details on each.)
Job Creation and Economic Growth
The Stock Market
Income Inequality
National Debt
The Bush Recession and the Obama Recovery

And you wonder why the economy isn’t recovering strongly?
Now, the would-be Second MBA President Mitt Romney would make the situation worse with an economic prescription even more poisonous than the one administered George W. Bush. Romney would deliver a massive tax cut windfall for the rich, paying for it by gutting the social safety net each pretends to protect. He would end Medicare as we know it with a premium support gambit that would dramatically shift health care costs to America’s seniors. While increasing defense spending, the GOP White House hopeful would repeal the Affordable Care and leave at least 30 million people without insurance. And despite his pledge to end many tax loopholes and deductions to fund their gilded-class giveaway, Mitt Romney doesn’t have the courage to say which ones. As a result, Mitt “Cut, Cap and Balance” Romney would actually add trillions more in red ink to the national debt.

In a major address offering his own economic vision in Osawatomie, Kansas last December, President Obama summed up the performance of the Republican trickle down economic theory in practice. As he explained and as the images above attest, the picture of GOP economic orthodoxy is not a pretty one:

Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes — especially for the wealthy — our economy will grow stronger. Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, well, that’s the price of liberty.
Now, it’s a simple theory. And we have to admit, it’s one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. That’s in America’s DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. (Laughter.) But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. (Applause.) It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the ’50s and ’60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade. (Applause.) I mean, understand, it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory.

As Obama suggested, you don’t have to go all the way back to the time of Teddy Roosevelt for proof of the failure of the GOP’s coddling of the gilded class: George W. Bush was proof enough. Or as Harry Truman explained in words that are as true to today as when he uttered them over 60 years ago, “if you want to live like a Republican vote Democratic.”

What an absolutely beautiful and PROFOUND letter. It’s so full of wisdom that you need to actually unpack each sentence and meditate on it. As Jesus said repeatedly: “Let he (she) who has ears, let him (her) hear.”

This should be our daily theme, “live our faith and not legislate our faith”…and I don’t hear you asking a doctor, police or firefighter whether they are gay or straight before you decide to accept their help in saving your life, nor do you ask whether the tithe and offering you are collecting is coming from a gay or straight person. The President NEVER ask anyone to accept his personal views on any issue (to which he is entitled), so if you want to disagree with him on the issue of gay marriage, do so, but don’t tell me that with so many problems we have in this country that gay marriage is of the utmost importance to you ahead of the President’s efforts in stabilizing our economy and getting people back to work.

In response to this wonderful letter which has opened the door for a renewed dialogue; I have a wonderful retired pastor friend who is in his early 80’s and he is more forward thinking than I was about President Obama’s marriage statement. The gist of his explanation is that President Obama stated his personal opinion and he represents every American and that he also said that he will do every thing in his power to get him re-elected. If black pastors and former pastors understand any thing about civil rights it is that they have the freedom to speak out against all injustices because they are servants of the people. Their livelihood is not threaten by corporations, they can freely speak the truth.

I really believed that because President Obama stated his opinion, a lot of people have lessen their hard stance toward having a rigid, righteous opinion of marriage. Pharisee tendencies are discarded.

So I found that this is the best way to explain the marriage statement when I hear someone who is wavering in their support of our President because of this one civil rights issue. Greatest of all commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Rev. Moss gave a much needed centerpiece to render mute the sounds there were drowning out the goodness of a beautiful heart of comprehending the truth and depth of the President’s statement. Rev. Moss speaks with boldness and true convictions of what his dear father and my two uncles went through together during their fight in the Civil Rights Movement. He is such a beautiful spirit just like his father. Words that need to be spoken.

Goodnight TOD family. Love you all very much. Get your rest, spend some quality time with those you love so dearly, and leave the space that you might enter into tonight and tomorrow with hope, joy, love, peace, and much respect to those you come in touch with in your journey.((((Love you all)))))HZ

Well said Mae! I also applaud President Obama for invoking the Golden Rule. Both the commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself” and the Golden Rule “to do unto others the way you would like them to do unto you” should be the bedrock of the way all of us, and not just the Christians, approach the love and desire for marriage by homosexual couples. Then there is the other injunction to Christians: “judge ye not so that you may also be judged.” If, as some Christians assert, gay marriage is a sin, then it should be up to God to judge that. I don’t care how pious any religious person claims to be, no one should be empowered to use civil law to impose their religious beliefs on others. That includes the Catholic Pope, the Bishops, and all the other spiritual leaders of other religious entities. But it especially includes political leaders who derive their authority from civil law and not divine law. I am just so proud we have a leader in President Obama who truly understood the commandment “to love your neighbor as yourself” as well the Golden rule that he so ably invoked. Even more importantly, however, I am glad that we have a president who is not trying to act as if he was GOD!

Voter purges are huge, but it’s THE SHINY they want us to focus on. Election fraud is on a MUCH BIGGER SCALE, and EASIER TO DO.

Call, tweet, email, fax the Dept of Justice and DEMAND they investigate NOW. They should outlaw e-voting and counting. I don’t care if it takes a week to hand count everything, it’s an ELECTION, not a sporting event. Fuck the GOPMEDIA if they whine about it.

Just watched a commencement speech J.K. Rowling gave in 2008 at Harvard…below is a short text of her speech, I recommend watching it some time, some of what she said is as follows…

—
“…But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

Excellent letter. Just PERFECT>
Saw a 700 Club segment on this issue where they highlighted Black pastors that are for “traditional” marriage and against what the president said. My feeling was then show was trying to pit them against the president. However they pretty much said they would still vote for him.

What is up about the leak of some classified information, that has the Republicans all upset and blaming the White House for the leak? Any info about that? I think it was something leak to the NYT concerning foreign policies.

I think the outrage is because there’s a book or newspaper article that outlines the “secret cyber war” with Iran, and there was some information that was given to the reporter in interviews. I heard the reporter being interviewed last week on NPR or BBC, and he said that the Administration or Pentagon walked him through what he could and could not say, due to national security constraints, and he adhered to those rules. He wasn’t given anything confidential. And he didn’t release anything that was too sensitive and might jeopardize the safety of the troops or the country.

Of course, the GOP have pounced on the report/book, squealing that the Administration leaked classified information and calling for a full scale investigation, “otherwise, everyone will be left to assume that the Administration endorses the leaks” – or some such nonsense.

Personally, I’m tired of the phony outrage from the GOP. They didn’t keep this country safe, and their policies have killed 5000 Americans and countless Iraqi and Afghans. They are the ones screeching for endless wars, and many of them think a war is essential for the Rapture- even as they’re stocking up millions of dollars. The GOP are the ones who leaked the name of a CIA agent. The GOP are the ones who divided the world with the famous words “you’re either with us or against us”. They really don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to national security. I’d rather trust the guy who’s actually managed to keep everyone safe and has brought the world together, and has the respect of billions of people around the world.

I also heard the author’s interview on NPR. He said that the program’s existence got revealed because the worm designed to focus on destroying Iran’s nuclear centrifuges escaped and started showing up on the web. so IT engineers around the world started trying to understand WHY it was there and WHAT form it took. then Iran understood that it was under attack by US and Israel.

The author clear states that he did hisown independent research from the techinical IT people and then before publication, he went to the US govt to confirm his facts and also to ensure that he does not released critical national security information on an on-going program.

the gop, led by bitter-man mccain are just trying to find something to investigate PBO and cause an appearance of scandal

Okay thank for the info, I had just heard about it and wanted to know what was going on. Believe me I understand the Republicans and all their B.S. I don’t have one bit of confidence or respect for McCain or any of those Republicans. I don’t trust them at all.

Very profound words by Rev Mos!!! Thank you very much sir for your leadership. Needs to be shared throughout

ps,

someone (Ms Susanne) expressed a concern that Rev Mos’ letter appeared to address only men by saiying “my brother”.

I thought the same thing too and was about to write a similar complaint about the “my brother ” part. It stood out to me and I am aware of the complaints against the trivialization of women in religous orders and communities.

Except if you read the rest of the letter, it is implied that Rev Mos was responding to a specific religious leader’s earlier letter and that is WHY he is responding to ” that brother” and then the whole concerned group in general . It would be the same as is he chose to copy it to others (as like in cc)

you may have missed the part where he implies he is responding to an earlier author who is probably part of the black clergy and known male who Rev Mos then addresses directly. here is the part in Rev Mos’ letter:

The question I believe we should pose to our congregations is, “Should all Americans have the same civil rights?” This is a radically different question than the one you raised with the ministers, “Does the church have the right to perform or not perform certain religious rites.”

and thanks for clarifying this, linda. late night for me, early morning for you–still you nailed the pertinent line: ‘should all americans have the same civil rights?” that’s the heart of his letter, and of the president’s comments, too. we’re fortunate to have both leaders on the side of justice.